Feature & Share

Parents as Teachers

Enrollment is always open!

Parents as Teachers is back in full swing
Enrollment is and always has been open!

It has been several years since there has been press about the state cuts for the Parents as Teachers Program. Here at Lafayette County C-I, while we reduced our staff, we continued our services as they had been in the past.

Parents As Teachers is a program provided by all Missouri public school districts at no cost to families. We have trained staff and an organized curriculum that offers personal visits, group meetings, a network of resources, and screenings to monitor your child's development. Our parent educators will provide you with information about child development and give you various activities and handouts to help facilitate your child's learning. Parents As Teachers promotes the philosophy that the parents are the first and most effective teachers in their child's life. The first three years of life are the most important for learning.

Personal visits provide an opportunity for a Parent Educator to come to your home to share information with you about your child's development and give you an opportunity to ask questions about your child. During personal visits, the educator will also provide a parent-child activity for you and your child to do together to help facilitate their learning.

Group meetings are offered throughout the school year. They provide an opportunity for you and your child to get to know children of the same age and network with resources in the community. At these meetings, parents can share common concerns, frustrations, and successes in rearing and teaching of children. Some group meetings that we have provided include: infant massage, story time, theme parties, constructive play, effective discipline and child safety.
Our network of resources will be provided in order to help families access local and regional supports to make it through both short-term emergency situations as well as providing help with long-term supports.

The screenings are offered to monitor a child's development. These screenings can be done in the home, at our local preschools, at our spring group meeting, or at our office.

Several studies show that children that participate in Parents As Teachers Program were significantly advanced in reading, math, and language development, were further along in social development and make greater strides in problem solving and intellectual skills. Further, for children in Missouri who participated in Parents As Teachers and preschool the achievement gap for children born into poverty was almost erased.

So how do you become involved in Parents As Teachers? You may call our office at 660-584-3631 or email us at knipmeyera@huskers.k12.mo.us. We would love to schedule a personal visit with you and your child, to let you see how out program works and enroll you in our program. Please also visit www.parentsasteachers.org for more information.